"Chai each! Tamak jay!"--Kyrgyz Culture & The Abundance of God

“He has brought me into his banquet hall…” (Song of Solomon 2:4).

“…Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10).

“…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

“Chai each! Tamak jay!” (Drink tea! Eat food!)—it’s one of the first things we learned in our language classes, and the most commonly spoken phrase of any good Kyrgyz apa (mother). Coming from the Freeman family, one would think I’d be accustomed to this incessant insistence upon eating and drinking more, yet the Kyrgyz have still blown me away with the abundance of food they offer. Have you ever been to a party with 20 other people, eaten until you were so stuffed you thought you would be sick (or in my case, actually were sick), everyone around you having eaten until they were filled to the brim, and you looked at the food on the table before you and it appeared no one had eaten at all? I think that must be the goal of every Kyrgyz host; if it looks like there was a dent in the food, they must not have made enough!

Sometimes this is certainly overwhelming as a guest who wants to please the host by eating a sufficient amount, but it has also caused me to reflect on the character of God. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 9:8: “And God is able to make ALL grace ABOUND to you, so that ALWAYS having ALL sufficiency in EVERYTHING, you may have an ABUNDANCE for EVERY good deed.” Living life with God—eating at His banquet table—is like going guesting in Kyrgyzstan! No matter how much I feed myself on His goodness and His riches, I can look at all God has to offer me and see that it’s like I’ve tasted nothing at all. I’ve only scratched the surface; I’ve only just tasted. I never come to the end of what God has to offer. When I feel I’ve come to the end of myself, I take joy in remembering I serve this God of abundance!